Topics

More Coverage

Related Stories

Ontario’s three major political party leaders traded jabs over bad math, bad gas and bad medicine at the televised leaders debate.

A question about the cancelled Mississauga and Oakville gas plants kicked off Tuesday night’s debate, putting Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne on the defensive as she tried to explain her government’s actions.

Opposition leaders insisted repeatedly she had a choice to say no to a process that cost Ontarians up to $1.1 billion.

“All Ontarians have a right to expect ethical behaviour from your leaders,” Wynne said. “There was public money that was wasted in those decisions and that shouldn’t have happened. And in the process, the public good was sacrificed in partisan interests.”

Wynne said she has acknowledged the mistake made by the Liberal government and apologized, but called on Leader Tim Hudak to confess to his math errors in his Million Jobs Plan.

The PC platform, which calls for the cutting of 100,000 positions from the public service, will push the province back into recession instead of creating jobs, she argue.

Hudak countered his platform will put people to work and promised he would resign as premier if it failed.

Hudak said he was the only leader on the stage being honest with Ontarians about the measures it would take to bring the provincial budget back into balance.

The PC leader made a reference to an attack ad launched by the Ontario Provincial Police Association that accused him of planning to rip up their collective agreement.

Hudak said he would proceed with a legislated two-year wage freeze that includes the police.

The PCs won’t ask someone working at Costco to pay more taxes for a public sector pay raise, he said.

Hudak’s pledge to quit his job if he misses his major promises, such as balancing the books in two years, harkens back to similar promises made by former premier Mike Harris in the 1995 campaign.

The Ontario Liberals will balance the books in 2017-18 without the chaos that Hudak’s plan would bring, Wynne said.

The Liberals would partner with businesses and invest in infrastructure to grow the economy and create jobs, she said.

On energy and electricity, Hudak said he would bring local municipal control to industrial wind turbine projects which he said are turning the Ontario landscape into a “pin cushion.”

Going into the debate, an Abacus Data poll exclusive to Sun Media revealed that Wynne’s Liberals were ahead 37% to 30% over Hudak’s PCs among eligible Ontario voters, but that the lead shrunk to a statistical tie among likely voters.

Polling shows the Tories have a committed base of supporters who are more determined than most to cast a ballot on June 12.

Abacus Data Inc. CEO David Coletto said the numbers suggest the best strategy for Hudak was a “reassurance” offensive while Horwath needed to break through the Liberal-Tory logjam to gain some traction.

Wynne’s numbers, including her popularity among the so-called “swing voters,” required only that she stay calm and not make any big mistakes.

Following the debate, Horwath said she wouldn’t be a premier whose office is visited by the OPP investigating wrongdoing or one that throws 100,000 people out of work.

Wynne emphasized that this was her first leader’s debate but said she enjoyed it.

“I was very happy to have the opportunity to present myself and our plan to the people of the province,” she said. “I hope that people have a better understanding of the kind of person I am and the plan that we’re bringing forward.”

Questions about Hudak’s promise to quit if he fails to perform dominated the post-debate media scrum.

“I wish the other two leaders had made the same promise because I think people are pretty tired of politicians saying one thing and doing the opposite,” he said.